The summer before I went off to college, Mom stood me in her usual spot behind the ironing board (烫衣板)and said, “Pay attention: I’m going to teach you to iron.”
Mom clearly explained her      for this lesson. I was going to be     and needed to learn this vital skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and properly ironed clothes would help me make a good    .
“Learn to iron a shirt,” Mom said, “and you can iron anything.”
But ironing shirts was not      work. It didn’t make use of long muscles we used to throw a baseball，and it wasn’t a     operation like ice-skating. Ironing was like driving a car on a street that has a stop sign every 10 feet, Moreover, an iron produced steam and it carried an element of     .If you touched the wrong part of it, you’d get burnt. If you forgot to turn it off when you      ,you might bum down the house.
As for technique, Mom     me to begin with the flat spaces outward, always pushing the iron forward into wrinkled (有褶皱的）parts. Collars had to be done right. Mom said they were close to your face, where everyone would     them.
Over the years, I’ve learned to iron shirts skillfully, which gives me a sense of     Whatever failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something.       ,through ironing I’ve learned the method for solving even the most troublesome problems. “     wrinkles one at a time,” as Mom might have said, “and before long everything will get ironed out.”

小题1:	A．reasons B．rules C．emotions D．methods

小题2:	A．helpful B．confident C．powerful D．independent

小题3:	A．conclusion B．suggestion C．impression D．observation

小题4:	A．useful B．easy C．special D．suitable

小题5:	A．direct B．single C．smooth D．strange

小题6:	A．doubt B．pressure C．surprise D．danger

小题7:	A．went away B．fell down C．jumped off D．looked up

小题8:	A．taught B．chose C．forced D．sent

小题9:	A．touch B．design C．see D．admire

小题10:

A．honesty B．freedom C．justice D．pride

小题11:

A．Instead B．Besides C．Otherwise D．However

小题12:

A．Make up B．Deal with C．Ask for D．Rely on